Ephemeral
by Chickeerafish
Summary: Ariadne is going crazy with her thoughts of Arthur and decides to do something about it. Rated T mostly to be safe.


Ariadne was going crazy.

She couldn't take what he was doing to her with a single look, or with an exclusive complement. It had seemed impossible to take before the Fischer job, before The Kiss.

"_Quick, give me a kiss."_

"_They're still looking."_

"_It was worth a shot."_

He was driving her utterly mad. She knew this had to end, and soon. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a wrinkled, unused napkin from her breakfast. Quickly she jotted down an invitation, hesitated, added a small extra note at the end, then shook her head and hastily scribbled it out. This wasn't the right time for that, she decided. Then headed over to pass by his desk and drop it there before getting back to work, knowing he would be there.

_~A&A~_

Arthur,

Meet me at the café down the block from

my apartment at 7:30pm tonight. We

need to talk.

Ariadne.

Arthur squinted down at the napkin with her note on it. There was a large black spot after her last words, but before her name, that had been eliminated by the desperate scribbling of her hand. What might it have been that she would so vehemently have scribbled it out as to render him incapable of viewing it?

He slowly ran his fingers over the mark, lingering upon the seemingly darker areas that may have been words before she destroyed them. He turned the napkin over, hoping to perhaps discover the lost words in their reverse imprint, but alas, she had been much to thorough in her attempt to eradicate the letters written in her simple hand. He knew he had some ink remover in his briefcase, but that was for clothing, and he wasn't sure that the napkin could hold up to that sort of abuse.

He sighed, reaching for the case. He needed to know what she had penned there.

_~A&A~_

Ariadne wanted to get up and pace, but she was prohibited from doing that by the mug of hot chocolate in her grasp and the fact that she was sitting in a public café with other customers, so she released her anxious tension by fingering her totem in one hand while holding the drink in her other.

She checked her watch for the seventh time in the past minute (he was two minutes and thirty seconds late) when he finally appeared in the doorway. He was still wearing his three-piece Armani perfectly-tailored suit she noted with some amusement. As if she had even seen him in anything else but those suits. His warm chocolate eyes swept the room before spotting her and he walked toward her and the empty seat across from her, a smile teasing at his lips.

He took off his jacket, put it around the back of his chair and sat down, his eyes twinkling slightly and smiled at her. "So? You said needed to talk, so let's talk." He the leaned back in his chair in his very Arthur way and Ariadne relaxed slightly and returned his unusual but calming smile. She rested her elbows on the table, both hands now on the still steaming drink in front of her, her totem in her pocket. Her heart was pounding in her chest, and she was more nervous now than she had ever been on a job.

"Did-" she started, paused, then cleared her throat and continued. "Did it mean anything to you?" He knew what she meant, The Kiss. When they kissed on the Fischer job. _Their_ kiss. His face became serious and Ariadne was afraid she had done something wrong. Her throat closed with fear as she awaited his reply. She looked down into her mug.

"Ari-" His voice broke into her fretful thoughts. "Ari," he repeated, his hand reaching over to lift her chin, forcing her to look at him. He starred into her eyes, pools of chocolate that matched the drink in front of her, matched his own. With his next words he knew, just by looking into those beautiful orbs, that he would make or break her. He leaned forward, his breath ghosting over her face, her eyes closing.

"Excusez-moi monsieur, madame, mais je dois fermer pour ce soir," said the owner, a short, portly man in his mid-fifties. The two leaped away from each other, Ariadne slightly flushed. Arthur was slightly more composed. "Nous sommes désolé, monsieur, nous allons juste quittera ensuite. Cela nous couvrir, je crois." He murmured to the owner, slipping him some bills. The owner's eyes widened, and he nodded, walking away murmuring to himself.

Ariadne stood up then, finally having cleared her head. They walked out of the establishment together and she realized that Arthur was waiting for her to do something. She blushed again, hoping he would attribute it to the cool air, it was late autumn after all. "Why don't you come back to my apartment with me" she asked him, still blushing slightly. "I suppose we could talk there." He raised his eyesbrows at her, and then he gestured and told her, "Montrer la voie, ma dame."

They walked together in silence, both wondering what might have happened if they hadn't been interrupted, or what might actually happen at her apartment. As they arrived at her place, she pulled out her key and slid it gently into the lock, twisting apart the tumblers, allowing them inside.

She took off her coat and hung it in the closet before turning back to him. He was standing in the doorway still, observing. "Well, you can come in." she told him, biting her lip and fingering her scarf, a nervous habit of hers. He stepped in and went to go sit on her small couch. He sat down carefully, still observing. She went over and sat next to him quietly. He turned to her after a few moments, and looked at her, reading her expression before smiling.

"So, you asked me if the kiss meant anything to me." he said, very calmly, while she was twitching practically. Then he lent in to her, pausing for just a moment, his breath ghosted across her face. He smelled faintly of cinnamon mixed with aftershave and his own personal scent. He then pressed his lips against hers softly, his nose lightly brushing her cheek. As he pulled away, his eyes twinkling, he whispered, "Does that answer your question?" before tossing a very wrinkled napkin onto her lap.

She gasped as she realized what it was. It was her note, only, the previously blacked out part had been cleaned up just enough for her small writing to be legible.

I love you.

He pulled her back into his arms for another kiss or three before pulling back just slightly to whisper in her ear. "Je t'aime aussi, ma belle Ariadne."

This time, it was her the pulled him in for a kiss, smiling into his lips as she tried to convey her happiness in their simple embrace of two young lovers finding each other.

_~A&A~_

_So, I feel like the french was a little weird, but I like having it in there, it added a layer to Arthur that I thought would be really cute. Here's all the translations for those who lack the knowledge of the language or are too lazy to google translate it. (Like I did :D)_

"_Excusez-moi monsieur, madame, mais je dois fermer pour ce soir," - Excuse me sir, ma'am, but I must close for tonight_

"_Nous sommes désolé, monsieur, nous allons juste quittera ensuite. Cela nous couvrir, je crois." - We're sorry sir, we'll just leave then. This will cover us, I think._

"_Montrer la voie, ma dame." - Show the way, my lady._

_Je t'aime aussi, ma belle Ariadne. - I love you too, my beautiful Ariadne._

_Also, it kind of got extra fluffy at the end, but that's my favorite kind of story, since it gives me hope that I'll get the kind of fairy tale love one day. Hope you love it, since it's my first attempt at an Inception fic, though I've have dozens of ideas for them. I absolutely loved this movie and Joseph Gordon-Levitt._

_And as a final thing, I own nothing, for if I did, I would keep Joseph Gordon-Levitt all to myself._

_Peace. Love. And adorable boys in suits._

_~*Chickeerafish*~_


End file.
